19.7.12

Cutting Out The Middle Man

I'm a fan of the NHS. I know they do some wrong and can be rubbish but so far my experience has been positive. I know someone who had to have treatment privately a couple of times and didn't rate it as highly as expected and said, if given the choice, they would have had the treatment on the NHS...or paid to be in an NHS hospital I should say.

As regular readers are aware I have been seeking treatment for my anxiety. I've written various posts

November was the appointment with my doctor. I told him I didn't feel I was coping with the anxiety and wanted to see someone to talk it through, train my mind, discover what was wrong and so on.
I then received the letter from the Wellbeing Service saying I had not responded to their letter so they were taking me off their books. I hadn't received a letter. So I had to phone them, assure them I hadn't received the letter, etc and get put back on their books to get an appointment.
March I finally had my first appointment. I thought I was on the road to treatment but it turned out to be just an assessment and after an hour of brain dumping and with a lot more to say I felt exhausted and hoped it wouldn't be long until my next appointment.
Sure enough April 24th saw my next appointment although I was disappointed to be told the therapy she specialises in wasn't really suitable for me so she would be referring me on. Although part of me was glad about this after she told me my anxiety towards Harry's birth was basically my fault.
She told me she would refer me on but would put me through as urgent so I could skip some of the waiting list.
Around 3 weeks ago, in fact it was 4 weeks ago yesterday, I visited my doctor to let him know I was waiting for an appointment and to see if he suggested anything. He put in a request for the Wellbeing Service to contact me and said if I hadn't heard anything in 2 weeks to let him know and he'll chase it up again.
I gave it 3 and a half weeks and then had enough. I sourced the telephone number and phoned them myself first thing on Monday morning.
I explained the situation and was told that it would be chased up and I would get a phone call.
Fast forward to Wednesday morning, totally fed up with lack of contact I phoned again, first thing.
I spoke to the same man as Monday and he promised that he would chase this up straight away and I would get a phone call. I didn't hold out much hope.
Then, at 10.30, my phone started ringing. I again had to go through another assessment. The result of this was to have a different kind of treatment as first thought which may then progress to this previous treatment.
I was told this form of treatment would consist of a lot of homework, so I'm hoping to finally get my Project up and running, and would involve speaking to someone on the phone. I didn't feel comfortable at opening up so much to someone I'd never met and seeking emotional support from them so we arranged an appointment for next week!

I wasn't going to sit back and wait for someone else to get the help I, to be completely honest, desperately need. Sometimes you have to take control of situations, even if you've asked for help from others.

I came to the conclusion that cutting out the middle man is the best way to go when possible.